More state budget reax

OLYMPIA (AP) – Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal, suggesting cuts to numerous programs across the state, was immediately met with resistance from teachers, state workers and poverty advocates who said the most vulnerable populations could get hit the hardest.

And some lawmakers who will be presenting their own budget proposals when the Legislature meets next month noted that Gregoire’s budget is not the last word.

Gregoire unveiled a no-new-taxes budget plan Thursday to fix a nearly $6 billion deficit over the next 2 1/2 years. Spending cuts were a major piece of the pie, with more than $2.5 billion in reductions for the 2009-2011 budget alone, not counting skipped pay raises.

Health and human services took the biggest hit, with a combined $1.5 billion in cuts to programs like free vaccines for poor children and the state’s Basic Health Plan, which provides health care for people making less than $22,800 a year.

Also eliminated would be a program that gives cash payments and treatment subsidies to the disabled and other people who cannot work.

Robin Zukoski, an attorney with Columbia Legal Services who represents some people getting payments from that program, said the proposed cut could leave about 21,000 people with little safety net.

“There’s no alternative for these folks,” she said.

Also unhappy with the current proposal are unions that represent teachers and state workers – both groups are staring at no pay raises under Gregoire’s proposal, even though state employees recently negotiated contracts calling for raises and teachers are due raises under a voter initiative.

Greg Devereaux, director of the Washington Federation of State Employees, said state workers have heard repeatedly that “everything is on the table.” But that apparently didn’t include tax or fee increases, Devereaux said.

“If our contracts can go unfunded when they were approved two months ago, why can’t a campaign pledge be retracted?” he asked, referring to Gregoire’s re-election promise not to raise taxes.